While four Pennsylvania casinos have restarted to offer live poker games, 888poker and WSOP.com are getting ready to launch two new PA poker sites. Poker is not defined as either a game of skill or chance in Kentucky (it’s not actually defined at all). — Massachusetts: Actual legality of playing home poker games is not referenced at all in Massachusetts General Law. — Pennsylvania: There are provisions in law about “unlawful gambling.” Again, it’s unclear whether poker falls.
- Are Slot Machines Legal In Pa
- Slot Machines Legal In Pennsylvania
- Are Poker Machines Legal In Pennsylvania Near
- Are Poker Machines Legal In Pennsylvania State Parks
Table Of Contents
While online poker players in Pennsylvania get ready for the end of the PokerStars PA monopoly, those who are not afraid to step into a brick-and-mortar casino are finally able to enjoy some live poker action.
Four brick-and-mortar casinos in the Keystone State decided to re-open their doors to poker players after implementing a number of safety measures to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
- Pace-O-Matic and its Pennsylvania subsidiary, POM of Pennsylvania, continue to insist that their games are perfectly legal, and that bars, private clubs and other entities should have no problem.
- State police have deemed skill gaming machines unlawful. Law enforcement says it has identified 10 separate manufacturers of the devices, all of which are marketed as skill-based.
Poker is Back at the Rivers Casino Philadelphia
As announced on the casino's official Twitter account, the Rivers Casino Philadelphia restarted its operation on Oct. 23, offering a limited number of games in a COVID-safe environment.
'We're excited to welcome you back,' a note published on the Rivers Casino website states. 'We worked hard with the Philadelphia's Department of Health and Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to make sure the poker room remains a safe place for guests and our team members.'
The new measures in place include limited seating per table and also placement of plexiglass partitions in some of the key areas in the poker room.
When it comes to masks, '[they] must be worn all the time,' River Casino indicates. 'Surveillance and security — along with all Rivers Casino Philadelphia personnel — will be monitoring continuously and enforcing full compliance.'
Also, 'hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes dispensers have been placed throughout the room and at each table.'
For the time being, food consumption and smoking will not be allowed inside the poker room but will be permitted in a designated area 'near the valet entrance.'
Players interested in joining the live games at the Rivers Casino Philadelphia are invited to check availability via the Bravo Poker App and to call the casino to book a seat at the poker table in advance.
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Mohegan Sun Pocono 'Laser-Focused' to Prepare a Safe Reopen
The Rivers Casino is not the only establishment to offer live poker games in Pennsylvania right now. The Mohegan Sun Pocono also restarted their poker operations even earlier, on Oct. 16.
We're all-in on safely welcoming you back to our Poker Room tomorrow (10/16) at 12pm! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/t0glGSj2nd
— Mohegan Sun Pocono ☀ (@MSPocono) October 15, 2020'Over the past few months Mohegan Sun Pocono has been laser-focused on preparing our property for a safe reopen,' said Anthony Carlucci, President & General Manager of MSP.
'With the guidance of industry experts, regulatory agencies, and in closely mirroring the comprehensive protocols put in place by Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's (MGE) flagship property in Connecticut, we feel we are well-prepared for our doors to open and can't wait to welcome guests to a clean, safe and fun environment.'
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The list of measures adopted by the Mohegan Sun Pocono to limit the risks of exposure to the COVID-19 virus include mandatory use of face masks, temperature check performed at the entrance, and the installation of plexiglass panels in all transactional locations.
'We will be using plastic poker cards that will be replaced every six hours, and used poker cards will be re-inspected and sanitized by our security team each gaming day,' a casino representative explained on Twitter.
'We will also have hand sanitizer available and recommend it being used before and after playing.'
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The Mount Airy and the Meadows are Back in Business
The Mount Airy Casino is also back in business, although in a limited capacity. The casino's poker rooms offer seven-handed games and adopted measures that include the mandatory use of face masks and plexiglass dividers placed on each table.
Likewise, the Meadows Poker Room located just outside Philadelphia is back with 14 tables — all dedicated to cash games.
'While the amenities our customers have come to know and love may be somewhat limited [...], the ability to safely welcome back our team members and guests remain our top priority,' the Meadows explains in a note.
'With this in mind, we have been working closely with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, state and local leaders, and public health officials to finalize comprehensive reopening protocols and new health and safety precautions.
'Our returning team members will be trained on these procedures and our guests will see reminder signage about them throughout the property.'
The new protocols include measures such as mandatory face masks, a ban on smoking inside the casino premises, and the use of a special 'fog machine' to sanitize and disinfect the entire property every night.
For the time being, the Meadows Casino plans to operate at 50 percent capacity and not to run any poker tournaments.
BACK TO THE BASICS: Is online poker legal in Pennsylvania?
888Poker and WSOP.com Coming Soon to PA
Things are changing in Pennsylvania also on the online side of the poker industry, as recent developments suggest that the end of the PokerStars PA monopoly could be very near.
Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved the application submitted by 888, opening the door to two new PA online poker sites.
Mostly known for their 888poker site, the Israel-based gaming company 888Holdings operates in the United States also as a business-to-business (B2B) entity, with its software powering the WSOP.com poker client.
Following the regulatory approval and the fact that also the owner of WSOP.com - Caesars Interactive Entertainment - holds a Pennsylvania license, we can now expect both brands to enter the market and begin to offer online poker games soon.
This would put an end to the monopoly that PokerStars PA has enjoyed since their launch back in November 2019.
Lead image courtesy of the Mohegan Sun - Pocono. Twitter.
With many states, whether or not online gambling or online poker in particular is prohibited by law or not requires considerable interpretation of existing law to decide whether this form of gambling falls within its scope.
Then we have states like Pennsylvania, where the matter is made much simpler for us. Some states only really go after gaming operators, and Pennsylvania is clearly one of those states.
The criminal statutes that apply to gambling don’t even mention gambling per se as being prohibited, it instead is aimed at prohibiting state residents from running or promoting gambling operations in the state (1).
So while it would be an offense to operate a location where people were permitted to play poker online, or at least it might be depending on your reading of the law, the act of gambling itself isn’t prohibited. The closest they come to addressing this topic is prohibiting video terminals, which offering someone the opportunity to gamble via such a terminal would be an offense, however the actual playing on it would not be.
The section does address unlawful gambling establishments, basically prohibiting anyone from promoting them, but playing online poker in your own home would be far away from falling into such a definition. So online poker players in Pennsylvania are as much in the clear as would seem possible, and unlike some other states where it may clearly be illegal to partake in non state licensed gambling, there aren’t any such constraints in this state.
So this is as good as it gets really for online poker players short of actually licensing and regulating it, which could come very soon as lawmakers have been working tirelessly to legalize iGaming here in the past few years. It could very much become a reality VERY SOON that we see tons of licensed PA online casinos and poker sites popping up and providing a much-needed financial boost to the state’s revenue.
Live Poker In Pennsylvania
What state in the U.S. leads in tax revenues from gambling? If you thought it is Nevada, you are wrong. It’s actually Pennsylvania, who has led this race for the past several years (2). They also clearly beat their neighbor to the east, New Jersey, and declining gambling revenues in New Jersey are in large part due to Pennsylvania’s increasing ones.
The billion and a half dollars that the state of Pennsylvania now takes in from gambling tax revenues is hefty indeed, and give you an idea of how big the casino action is there, especially since they added table games in 2010, which coincides with their dramatic increase in revenues.
Permitting table games also permitted poker rooms to open up. Included in all this casino action is live poker as well, although there are only 10 poker rooms in the state, considerably less than some other states.
This list includes Harrah’s Philadelphia in Chester, Mohegan Sun in Wilkes Barre, Parx Casino in Bensalem, Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, Sugar House Casino in Philadelphia, Hollywood Casino Penn National In Grantville, Mount Airy Casino in Mt. Pocano, Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Sands Casino in Bethleham, and the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington, PA (3).
The largest of these is the Parx Casino with 61 poker tables, followed by the Sands Casino with 39 tables, Harrah’s Philadelphia with 35 tables, and the Rivers Casino with 30 tables (4). So Pennsylvania may not have a lot of poker rooms but what they do have is plenty of action at them.
Online Poker Legislation In Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has yet to pass a bill regulating online poker in the state, but they have introduced a bill which seeks to do just that (5). In the original draft it specifically mentioned poker, but the version that was introduced removed that reference and now seeks to regulate any approved interactive game, leaving the door open for online casino gaming as well.
The folks in Pennsylvania do like their gambling revenue though and they will probably be one of the next states to regulate it. There is some opposition from land based casinos but in the end they will probably decide that adding to their tax revenue base is more important to them than appeasing certain operators who simply are looking to protect their market share.
Pennsylvania is larger than Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware combined, with over 12 million people, and therefore would be the largest state to date to regulate online poker provided that they don’t get passed by a larger state like California or New York, who are also considering it.
Pennsylvania is at the top of most people’s list of which states are most likely to be next in regulating online poker though, and a recent study that they did which allayed concerns that online gambling would cannibalize land based casinos only added to this likelihood.
While this isn’t exactly on the horizon yet and much needs to be done to make this a reality, it is headed there and will probably happen sooner rather than later.
Recommended Online Poker Rooms For Pennsylvanians
While poker players in Pennsylvania wait for online poker regulation, there’s no real reason to wait at all as there are already some very good options for online poker for residents of this state.
Here are our top recommendations for you if you are from Pennsylvania:
Ignition Poker Review: This is PokerLaws.org’s top-rated online poker site that welcomes Pennsylvanians today. They are even more generous with their welcome bonus offer of 100% up to $1,000, and offer some of the best poker software in the industry. The popularity of Zone Poker and anonymous tables is something they’ve brought to the poker world from Bovada, whose software they actually purchased in 2016 and used it to re-brand as Ignition.
America’s Cardroom: America’s Cardroom has been one of the best places for Americans to play online poker for quite a while now, and they welcome residents of Pennsylvania with open arms. They are even looking to bring back some of the glory days of U.S. online poker back with some big tournaments, the kind we haven’t seen in a long time. Overall a very nice poker site with decent traffic and nice promotions, including up to $1,000 in bonus money to welcome you.
References:
(1) Statutes Of Pennsylvania, Consolidated Statutes, Title 18, Section 5513, Gambling Devices, Gambling, etc.
(2) Pennsylvania Leads U.S. In Gaming With Tax Windfall
(3) All Live And Online Poker Rooms In Pennsylvania
(4) Breaking Down The Best Live Poker Rooms In Pennsylvania
Slot Machines Legal In Pennsylvania
(5) The General Assembly of Pennsylvania, Senate Bill 1386, Session of 2014
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